Stapler with a punch mechanism

ABSTRACT

A hand-operated stapler of the type comprising a base having an anvil die adjacent its front end, an open-top staple magazine pivotally coupled at its rear end to the base, and a lever also pivotally coupled to the base to depress the staple magazine onto the anvil die of the base whereby the foremost one of the staples within the magazine is dispensed therefrom to penetrate sheets of paper or the like and is further clinched by the anvil die to hold the sheets together. The stapler characterized in that the staples within the staple magazine are urged forwardly by a feed element slidably mounted therein and a helical tension spring extending between the front end of the feed element and the front end of the lever, in such a manner that the spring is substantially folded over the rear end of the feed element.

United States Patent [191 Mitsuhashi [451 Sept. 23, 1975 STAPLER WITH APUNCH MECHANISM [76] Inventor: Yoshio Mitsuhashi, 79,

Higashi-Kibogaoka, Asahi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan [22] Filed: Feb.22, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 444,986

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 26, 1973 Japan 48-22954 [52]US. Cl 227/127; 227/76 [51] Int. Cl. B25C 5/16 [58] Field of Search227/76, 125, 126, 127, 227/128, 120, 122, 123, 124

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,840,586 1/1932 Jones227/76 2,073,819 3/1937 Vogel 227/128 2,251,915 8/1941 Crosby 227/1283,144,653 8/1964 Kohen 227/128 3,680,759 8/1972 Tyszkeiwicz 227/120 5:Ije 1111111 Primary Examiner-Granville Y. Custer, Jr. Attorney, Agent,or FirmWaters, Schwartz & Nissen [57] ABSTRACT A hand-operated staplerof the type comprising a base having an anvil die adjacent its frontend, an open-top staple magazine pivotally coupled at its rear end tothe base, and a lever also pivotally coupled to the base to depress thestaple magazine onto the anvil die of the base whereby the foremost oneof the staples within the magazine is dispensed therefrom to penetratesheets of paper or the like and is further clinched by the anvil die tohold the sheets together. The stapler characterized in that the stapleswithin the staple magazine are urged forwardly by a feed elementslidably mounted therein and a helical tension spring extending betweenthe front end of the feed element and the front end of the lever, insuch a manner that the spring is substantially folded over the rear endof the feed element.

3 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 1 of23,907,190

US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 2 on 3,907,190

FIG.

FIG.

FIG?

FIG.8

STAPLER WITH A PUNCH MECHANISM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates to improvements in a stapler of hand-operated classwhich is equipped with a punching mechanism to perform the dual functionof stapling and punching.

The prior art staplers of the type described have been subject to theobjection that only a limited number of staples can be accommodatedwithin the staple magazine. This is due to the fact that the feedelement slidably mounted within the staple magazine to urge the staplesforward with the aid of a helical tension spring in accordance with theprior art must have a length greater than that of the spring whencontracted to the minimum because, otherwise, the feed element cannot beurged toward the front end of the staple magazine to the last one of thestaples. Although some devices have been developed to overcome thisdifficulty, they are either unnecessarily complex and expensive inconstruction or bulky in size.

The known dual-purpose devices capable of performing both stapling andpunching functions also have a disadvantage in that thepunching'mechanism incorporated in such devices is susceptible tomalfunctions and is so complex in construction that the manufacturingcosts of the overall machines are increased to an extent that can beconsidered unnecessary in view of the teachings of this invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of this invention toprovide a hand-operated stapler of extremely simple and inexpensiveconstruction, such that its staple magazine is capable of accommodatingapproximately twice as many staples as has been possible by prior artstaplers of like size.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stapler of the classdescribed, which incorporates a punching mechanism such that holes canbe punched cleanly through sheets of paper or like penetrable materialby the simple depression of the staple housing.

According to the novel concepts of this invention, the staplesaccommodated within the staple magazine are urged toward its front endby a feed element slidably mounted therein and a tension springextendingv between the front end of the feed element and the front endof a lever pivotally coupled to a base in superposed relationship to thestaple magazine. The tension spring is thus substantially folded as itextends over the rear end of the feed element, so that the length ofthis feed element can be reduced to a minimum. As an added advantageresulting from this feature of the invention, unused staples can beloaded into the staple magazine simply by turning the lever about 180away from the staple magazine because, then, the feed element is pulledback to its retracted position by the tension spring.

The punching mechanism incorporated in the stapler according to theinvention comprises a punching die formed on the base between the twoends thereof, and a perforating punch extending downwardly from thebottom of the staple magazine, to bereceived in a'bore formed throughthe punching dieSincethe staple magazine is pivotally coupled to thebase by a pin which is located in a plane where the bottom surface ofthe staple magazine comes into contact with the surface of the punchingdie, the perforating punch travels substantially perpendicularly to thesurface of the die as it enters the bore formed therethrough, so thatpaper or the like held over the die can be punched in a cleanly cutmanner.

The features which are believed to be novel and characteristic of thisinvention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and mode ofoperation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, will bebest understood from the following description of a preferred embodimenttaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which likereference numerals denote like parts throughout the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view ofastapler constituting a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the stapler of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a base of the stapler of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a staple magazine of the stapler of FIG.1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a feed element in the stapler of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary, vertical sectional view showing the stapler ofFIG. 1 with its lever in a fully open position;

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view for a description of the staplingoperation performed by the stapler of FIG. 1, the staple housing beingillustrated in side elevation for the sake of simplicity; and

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 for a description of the punchingoperation performed by the stapler of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION With particular reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, thestapler illustrated therein by way of a preferred embodiment of thisinvention includes an elongated, substantially flat base 2 having anelevated anvil die 1 adjacent its distal or front end which is adaptedto clinch each staple pierced through paper or the like. A lever 6having a staple ejector 5 extending downward from its distal or frontend is turnably pivoted by a pin 7 on the base 2 at its proximal or rearend, and between the base 2 and the lever 6 an open-top staple magazine4 having a feed element 3 slidably mounted therein is also pivoted onthe base 2 by the pin 7 so as to be turnable up and down independentlyof the lever 6.

FIG. 3 best illustrates the detailed configuration of the base 2. Inaddition to the aforementioned anvil die 1 adapted to clinch each staplepiercing paper or the like, the base 2 has another elevated punching die8 formed between the two ends thereof as a part of a punching mechanismaccording to the invention, and a bore 9 is formed substantiallycentrally through the die 8 to receive a perforating punch 17,therethrough during a punching operation. A pair of upstanding sidewalls 10 are integrally formed with the base 2, and these side wallsinclude forward extensions 11 defining slots 31 adapted to receivetherein paper or the like to be perforated. Aligned holes 12 formedthrough respective side walls 10 are adapted to receive the pin 7 whichalso extends through holes 13, of the staple magazine 4 and holes 14, ofthe lever 6.

As best illustrated in FIG. 4, the staple magazine 4 has the aforesaidperforating punch 17 extending downwardly from its bottom at a pointbetween the two ends thereof. A thumbpiece 18 extends forwardly from thefront end of the staple magazine 4 for use in depressing the staplemagazine and hence the perforating punch 17 down through the bore 9 ofthe die 8 for a punching operation As indicated in FIG. 1, the staplemagazine 4 may have the upper edges of the forward portions of its sidewalls bent toward each other as shown at 16 to prevent staples 15accommodated therein from jumping out.

FIG. illustrates in detail the configuration of the feed element 3slidably mounted in the staple magazine 4. The front end of the feedelement 3 is bent downwardly as indicated at 19 to make neat contactwith the rearmost one of the staples within the staple magazine 4, aswill be seen from FIG. 2. A pair of lateral projections are formed at 23to be slidably received in guide slots 24, as shown in FIG. 4, that areformed longitudinally through the side walls of the staple magazine 4,in such a manner that the feed element 3 is slidable back and forthwithin the staple magazine. Furthermore, a hook 21 is formed at oradjacent the front end of the feed element 3 for engaging one end of ahelical tension spring best illustrated in FIG. 2, and the rear end ofthe feed element 3 is shaped into a curved edge 22 over which the spring20 is bent and substantially doubled, also as best seen is FIG. 2.

Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2, the lever 6 may be equipped with astaple remover edge 25 extending backwardly therefrom and with athumbpiece on its front end. The side walls of the lever 6 have inwardprojections 26 formed in a transversely aligned manner at a pointbetween the two ends thereof for releasable engagement with lateralexpansions 27 formed correspondingly on the side walls of the staplehousing 4.

A leaf spring 28, which may conveniently be formed in one piece with thestaple ejector 5 and secured to the lever 6, extends obliquelydownwardly from the lever 6 and resiliently engages at its bifurcatedend 280 with the upper edges of the staple magazine 4 as well as theupper edges of the side walls 10 of the base 2 in the position of FIG.2. A hook 29 is is integrally formed at the front end of the leaf spring28 to engage one end of the helical tension spring 20, the other end ofwhich is engaged, as aforesaid, with the hook 21 of the feed element 3.The spring 20 is thus substantially folded as it extends over the curvedrear end 22 of the feed element 3, thereby urging the feed elementforwardly or rightwardly as viewed in FIG. 2 to cause the same to feedthe staples 15 toward the front end of the staple magazine 4. The staplemagazine 4, theilever 6 and the base 2 are normally maintained in therelative positions illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The preferred embodiment of the invention being constructed ashereinabove described, staples can be loaded into the staple magazine 4through the open top thereof simply by first turning the lever 6approximately 180 away from the staple magazine and the base 2 asillustrated in FIG. 6, because then the feed element 3 within the staplemagazine is caused to retract to the rearmost position by the tension ofthe helical tension spring 20. As the lever 6 is succeedingly returnedto the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the stapler is ready foroperation. The releasable engagement of projections 26 with expansions27 enables the tuming of the lever 6 to the position in FIG. 6 and thesubsequent reengagement of lever 6 with the magazine 4.

For the stapling of paper or the like, the lever 6 is depressed in theusual manner onto the base 1 as illustrated in FIG. 7, with the resultthat the foremost one of the staples 15 within the staple magazine 4 isdriven by the staple ejector 5 out of a dispensing aperture 4a formedthrough the bottom of the staple magazine at its front end. The staplethus ejected from within the staple magazine 4 pierces the layers ofpaper or the like held between the base 2 and the staple magazine 4 andis clinched as it strikes against the depressions formed in the anvildie 1 in accordance with the prior art. As the lever 6 is released afterthe stapling operation, this lever and the staple magazine are caused toreturn automatically to their respective positions of FIGS. 1 and 2 byvirtue of the force of the leaf spring 28.

A mode of use of the punching mechanism incorporated in the stapleraccording to the invention is illustrated in FIG. 8. Paper or the liketo be perforated is inserted into the slots 31 formed in the side walls10 of the base 2, and in this case the staple magazine 4 is depressedonto the base 2 by application of downward force to the thumbpiece 18.The perforating punch 17 is thus driven through the paper or the likeand is properly received in the bore 9 formed through the elevatedpunching die 8 of the base 2. As the staple magazine 4 is released, theperforating punch 17 is moved upwardly out of the bore 9 by the-force ofthe leaf spring 28 bearing on the upper edges of the side walls 10 ofbase 2 causing the magazine 4 to be carried by the lever 6 due toengagement of the projections 26 and the expansions 27, whereas theperforated paper or the like is left on the base 2 because it isretained in the slots 31 of the side walls 10.

It is particularly noteworthy that, as best seen in FIG. 8, the pin 7pivotally interconnecting the base 2 and the staple magazine 4 has itsaxis located exactly in a plane where the top surface of the punchingdie 8 of the base and the bottom surface of the magazine contact eachother. Thanks to this novel feature of the invention, the perforatingpunch 17 is caused to pass through the bore 9 substantiallyperpendicularly to the face of the punching die 8 when the staplemagazine 4 is depressed onto the base 2 for punching operation or inother words when the punching cut is being effected, so that the paperor the like held on the punching die 8 can always be perforated in acleanly cut man ner.

What is claimed is:

1. In a stapler of the type including a base having an anvil dieadjacent one end thereof, an open-top staple magazine having a stapledispensing aperture provided in a distal end of a bottom wall thereof,said magazine being pivoted at its proximal end to the other end of saidbase so as to be turnable up and down relative thereto, a lever having astaple ejector at its distal end and also pivotally connected at itsproximal end to the other end of said base so as to be turnable up anddown relative thereto, said lever being adapted to drive each foremoststaple accommodated within said staple magazine out of said dispensingaperture by said staple ejector such that the dispensed staple isclinched by said anvil die to hold layers of penetrable materialtogether, a feed element slidably mounted within said staple magazineand having a front end facing the staples accommodated therein, andspring means urging said feed element toward said dispensing aperture tofeed the staples toward the dispensing aperture:

the improvement wherein said spring means comprises a tension springconnected at one end thereof to said front end of said feed element andat the other end thereof to said distal end of the lever, said tensionspring extending from said front end to the rear end of the feed elementremote from said front end along the length of the feed element andbeing substantially folded over saidrear end to urge the feed elementtoward the dispensing said staple magazine.

1. In a stapler of the type including a base having an anvil dieadjacent one end thereof, an open-top staple magazine having a stapledispensing aperture provided in a distal end of a bottom wall thereof,said magazine being pivoted at its proximal end to the other end of saidbase so as to be turnable up and down relative thereto, a lever having astaple ejector at its distal end and also pivotally connected at itsproximal end to the other end of said base so as to be turnable up anddown relative thereto, said lever being adapted to drive each foremoststaple accommodated within said staple magazine out of said dispensingaperture by said staple ejector such that the dispensed staple isclinched by said anvil die to hold layers of penetrable materialtogether, a feed element slidably mounted within said staple magazineand having a front end facing the staples accommodated therein, andspring means urging said feed element toward said dispensing aperture tofeed the staples toward the dispensing aperture: the improvement whereinsaid spring means comprises a tension spring connected at one endthereof to said front end of said feed element and at the other endthereof to said distal end of the lever, said tension spring extendingfrom said front end to the rear end of the feed element remote from saidfront end along the length of the feed element and being substantiallyfolded over said rear end to urge the feed element toward the dispensingaperture in the normal position of the stapler.
 2. The improvement asdefined in claim 1, wherein said rear end of said feed element is bentinto a curved edge for slidable smooth engagement with said tensionspring where the latter is folded therearound.
 3. The improvement asdefined in claim 1, wherein said feed element includes a pair of lateralprojections which are slidably received in respective guide slotsprovided in side walls of said staple magazine, whereby said feedelement is prevented from detachment out of said stAple magazine.